Arizona lands in the middle of 'Forbes' list of best states for business

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"Forbes" ranked Arizona the 22nd best state for business in its annual list.

Arizona officials like to tout the state's business friendliness, but, according to Forbes, the state could do better.

The venerable magazine listed Arizona No. 22 in its list of best states for business. Not bad – but it certainly could be better.

Forbes' annual list was compiled by evaluating 36 data points across six areas: business costs, labor supply, regulatory environment, economic climate, growth prospects and quality of life. Business costs received the most weight in the rankings.

Arizona was smack in the middle for business costs, ranked No. 25. The state fared slightly better in terms of labor supply and regulatory environment, ranking 17th in both of those areas.

Arizona's best showing was in growth prospects, where it was fifth. But quality of life (40th) and economic climate (47th) rankings didn't help.

Arizona was ahead of South Carolina overall (23rd), but behind Tennessee (22nd). California ranked No. 37 and Texas was No. 6. Utah topped the list, followed by North Dakota and North Carolina.